Chapter 33 Summary

The primary events of this chapter occur during 41 AD. The attractive and young Messalina quickly becomes pregnant. On one occasion, a plot is discovered that implicates Claudius—he escapes execution by playing the idiot, which entertains Caligula. Meanwhile, the disgusted Cassius Chzhrea forms a real plot among the Imperial guard; they intend to kill the despised Caligula. The plot is complicated because Caligula retains a massive bodyguard of German troops. The German bodyguard takes Caligula's insane and capricious behavior as a sure sign of his divinity and thus bears him unreasoning loyalty. Eventually, however, Caligula declares an enormous festival. During the confusion of the festivities, Cassius and other guards set upon Caligula in a passageway and kill him.

Chapter 33 Analysis

Caligula's excesses continue to the very end. His bizarre behavior is viewed, by his German bodyguard, as a sure sign of his divinity. His Roman bodyguards...